Spitfire problems

[Fibber]

Hi guys;
just recently tooled around in some Spitires and seemed to notice something strange. ALL and I mean ALL, from AH to BSK to PR, have a performance problem. They don't seem to want to get above 140 MPH and will only climb to about 7000 feet, stall and fall. THAT is not what a true Spit was capable of. I just finished reading a book titled "Spifire Pilot" which was a reproduction of the writings of a Spitfire pilot in the BOB and entries were made daily and he wrote about battles above 25000 feet and how high performance the a\c was. The pilot died just after the BOB, when his plane crashed into the sea from causes unknown.
So anybody experience the poor performance or do all my planes have problems. Any updates I missed for these planes?

[Desert Rat]

Are you adjusting mixture as altitude increases?

[Fibber]

yes, I have been trying but my rig seems to have three settings, take-off, stop and mid is for appears to be cruise. Fustrating!

[Melo]

Hi Fibber,

I have a fair number of Spitfires in my Hangar. Mostly for FS9 and FSX. If you let me know which specific ones you are having trouble with, I would be happy to test fly them on my rig and report back results for comparison purposes.

One general thing to be careful about with Spitfires is prop pitch. Fine pitch for takeoffs and landings. Coarse pitch for cruising at altitude.

Here is a good reference page about prop pitch:

http://www.pilotfriend.com/training/flight_training/fxd_wing/props.htm

Best regards,
Melo

[Fibber]

thanks for the comeback and offer. I have tried the pitch also. That resulted in no difference. The book I related to the author had written about the settings for proper handling of the Spit so I was aware of the fine and coarse factor. I'll let you know about the testing in a PM, through here, if that is okay with you.

[Melo]

Sure, no problem. Glad to help if I can. Any reason to fly another Spitfire is a good one. :-)

[Fibber]

.. just so you aren't waiting with baited anticipation.. I have been jockeying around with these Spits and may have stumbled on something. The different variants ( as we all know have different engines) Well, found some of the Spits in question were aliased to lesser power engines. Re-aliased them and get more power. Now they seem to lose power after a period of flight to the point of stalling and have to be re-started to keep flying! This development really has me stumped now.

JD: Tried adjusting the mix while in flight through the panel pop-up and when mix is reduced the engine will stall and stop.

[Melo]

Hi Fibber,


I know some of the payware Spitfires have it built in to the flight model, that the engine will stop working and start smoking if you use full power for more than 5 minutes. 3000 RPM. That will be obvious if it happens, and your only option is to land if you can. :-)


But what you are describing sounds the most like a mixture issue. Another possibility is that a lot of earlier mark Spitfires only had a float-type carburetor. Going into a sudden dive would cause problems for the Spitfires and Hurricanes because of the negative G, while the ME-109s with fuel injection could more easily dive away. In order to follow in an early mark Spitfire the pilot would have to roll inverted and then dive to follow the enemy Aircraft.


When I fly the Spitfire, in most cases I try to stick to an RPM between 2500 and 2700. 1800 - 2000 RPM is typically used when trying to fly a longer flight with leaner mixtures and greater fuel economy.


For early mark Spitfires, this Engine Limitations table might be helpful:
Max. Take-Off to 1,000 ft - 3,000 rpm - +12.5 Boost
Max. Climbing 1 Hr. Limit - 2,850 rpm - +9 Boost
Max. Rich Continuous - 2,650 rpm - +7 Boost
Max. Weak Continuous - 2,650 rpm - +4 Boost
Combat 5 Min. Limit - 3,000 rpm - +12 Boost

Best regards,
Melo

[Fibber]

.. Thanks for the come back. That seems to be part of the problem. When I pull up the engine control console, through F5, and take the mix off of Max. the engines all seem to stop and must be restarted.
I have been rearranging my central engine files to better separate the early engines from the later, IE; Card vs Injection. to make it easier to put the right engine in the right model plane. Had all this done before my rig collapsed and lost it all!
Guess I never got around to re-doing the Spits.

[Ivan]

Flaps down???
140 MPH seems to be around the right limit for that condition.
Suspect engine power is fine if you can achieve 3000 RPM with a constant speed propeller.

(Just a Spitfire enthusiast.)
- Ivan.

[Fibber]

...Hello there! No the flaps are not down and all is trimmed for flight. Found that maybe there was a problem with the .dp because I went back and found the original and seemed to correct. What happened to the one that was there is unknown.
Now a new thing has happened that really has me puzzled and have never seen before. When I get into quick Combat it is like my plane is standing virtually still. I mean it moves at a snails pace and the wingmen whiz by me. The airspeed reads proper but it reallllllly moves slow. This BSK Spit is the only plane that does that! All the others in the hanger behave properly.

Any ideas appreciated.